All language subtitles for Chasing.2022-eng

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[suspenseful music]

[suspenseful music continues]

[waves lapping]

[music tempo increases:
dramatic instrumental]

*

[man] It is miserable out here.
Absolutely miserable.

You're sweating so much

your two-hour shift
feels like four.

Um, so,
I'm just being down so.

It's kind of quiet
on the boat today.

Everyone is just
kind of in their own heads

trying to get through
their shifts.

[suspenseful music]

[Jason] Why would anyone
want to row across an ocean?

Or climb Mount Everest,
for that matter?

Or run across a desert?

What type of person does this?

*

The effort chews you up
and spits you out

until you're essentially
unrecognizable to yourself.

You sacrifice time
with your family.

It punishes you.
It humbles you.

It breaks you.

So why would anybody do it then?

For myself
and for my teammates,

it was because
we were chasing something...

and we didn't know
what it was

until it was all over.

[dramatic orchestral music]

Everyone has something
they dream of achieving.

If you had asked me
at seven-years old

what my dream was,
it was to be a baseball player.

Just like any other
seven-year-old's dream

of being an astronaut,

a ballerina, musician,
teacher, a doctor.

But all of us
are really saying, though,

is that we want
to be the best at something.

The older you get,

the harder it is
to pursue those dreams.

But they're still there.

So, the question is,
why do we give up

on our dreams?

This is my story,
but it can be anyone's story.

It's about what happens

when you're faced
with failure

and what kind
of person that makes you.

[waves crashing]

The Talisker Whisky
Atlantic Challenge.

World's toughest rowing race.

[fast-paced adventure music]

A 3,000-mile rowing race
across the Atlantic Ocean.

*

The race attracts
up to 30 teams

from all over the world.

Teams of four,
pairs and solos.

It's a challenge that pits you
against the elements 24/7.

*

It's unassisted.

You have to take
all your own food

for up to 90 days

and use a desalinator
for making drinking water.

And there's no stopping.

Over one and a half million
strokes.

All day and all night.

[fast-paced
suspenseful music]

Until you set foot on land.

[splashing]

When I first heard about it,

I thought,
"This seems impossible."

I mean, I'm a rower,

but rowing 3,000 miles
across an ocean

seems just removed
from reality.

You've got moms
that are crossing this.

You've got people that
have gone through war

and then are missing limbs
and that are doing this.

You see recovering drug addicts.

People that had gone through
failed marriages,

people that have a void
to fill.

And I don't think
I was any different than that.

[calm melodic orchestral music]

[Amelia] I think
The Talisker Atlantic Race

is unlike anything
he'd ever heard of.

I know when he first
brought it to my attention

that he had found this race,
he was astounded.

He couldn't believe that
people could actually do this.

So, he almost became a bit
obsessed with researching it

and finding out
how do people do this

and the intricacies of it.

The more that he researched it,

the more he kind of fell
in love with the idea of,

"I could do this."

And I think
the idea of doing something

that seemed impossible
was very romantic to him.

I had no idea
really what was in store.

[Gary]
When somebody says,

"I'm going to row across
the Atlantic Ocean,"

you know,
I just didn't understand it.

Trust me, I had people that
said, "You got to be kidding me.

What is he doing?"

[Jason] There're two types of
people entering this race.

The first type of person
or team was

a team just trying
to represent their country

or their charity
and just complete the race.

Just try to literally
get to the finish line.

And the others
were trying to win the race

or potentially
break a world record.

I knew that I was going to be
in the latter.

There's no way
that I was going to dedicate

18 months of my life
and do this

and work as hard as that
to simply just finish.

I wanted to win.

And potentially
even break a world record.

And I allow myself to once again
dream like a seven-year-old.

[fast clicking]

[clicking slows
then stops]

[Ardell]
Jason's dad and I separated,

divorced when he was--
Jason was five-years old.

One week on with dad,
one week on with mom.

[Jason] Going to my dad's
certainly, it wasn't--

it wasn't that it wasn't
loving, but it was intense.

There was an intensity to it.

I remember having
to almost pump myself up

knowing that after school,
like,

that week was going to be
a tougher week,

more filled
with structure and discipline.

[player]
You can do it.

[man]
Strike!

[Gary] Good job, Jason.
Good job, buddy.

[Jason] Baseball was a
soundtrack of my childhood.

It seemed like everything
that my dad and I did

revolved around baseball
to some extent or another.

I thought I loved baseball,

but I-- I loved my dad
and he loved baseball.

He was passionate
about the sport.

He loved the sport.

[fans chatting]

[fans] Oh.

Well, when Jason
decided he wanted to be

a-- a Major League Baseball
player

at ten years old,
I took that

just like you should
take it from a ten-year-old.

And that's that,
"Okay, let's see what

we can do to--
to get you on that path."

[Jason] I come into the backyard
and there's this structure.

And maybe for a second
I thought,

'Oh, my dad made a fort

or some kind of a play structure
for me.'

But it wasn't.

It was-- it was
a means to getting better.

Growing up, I played baseball
as far as I could go,

and I understood
the art of hitting.

I sent him up a net and a tee
and I said,

"This is what you need
to be doing on your off time.

Hit that bucket of balls.

Don't hit 30,
don't hit 60, hit all 62,

and then fill it back up."

[Jason] So, when my friends
were out playing,

out on their bikes,
having a good time,

I was in the backyard
hitting balls off that tee.

And he didn't force me
to do it.

But if you didn't then
you weren't doing what it took.

"You told me you wanted to be
a professional baseball player.

Here's the bucket.
You're not hitting them.

I don't believe you."

[twack]

When I went up to Sonoma,

pitching was my best bet.

I'm left-handed.

I can throw hard,
I'm tall, I'm strong.

[Gary] Sonoma State
was very good.

They had asked him to go
and play in the summer

for the semi-pro team,
San Francisco Angels.

*

[Jason] At that moment,
that was my best shot.

[Ardell] There were times
where I know

he-- he worked really hard
and-- and didn't do well.

He wasn't considered
at the top.

I, at the time, was--
was a little bit concerned

that what if he doesn't make it?

And would that be
such a terrible letdown

to him
or even his dad?

And so there was
a part of me that were saying,

"I didn't want the sport
to define the person he was."

[cheering and clapping]

[Jason] But on the 24th of
July, 2004, everything changed.

In the third inning, one pitch,
you just hear this pop.

[witnesses] Oh.

[Jason] People in the dugout
could hear it.

And all of a sudden,
I just--

I can't--
I can't throw.

[X-ray machine beeps]

[Gary] He had done some
damage to his-- his elbow.

[Jason] The tendon is
completely ripped in half.

And that--
that was a tough crossroad.

[slow melancholy music]

I remember being
at the doctor's office

and us asking the questions,

"What happens
if I do have the surgery?

How long is the rehab?"

Which would have been
about a year.

Versus if you don't have
the surgery, you'll be fine.

It just you won't be
able to throw the ball

90 miles an hour
like you are now.

[Jason] They're throwing this
information like it's nothing,

but it's a lot to me,
and it's-- I'm overwhelmed.

Being in a brace
for six months,

my senior year of college,
that didn't sit right with me.

I'm thinking about all night.

I was dreading
making that call to my dad.

I called him.
I said,

"I am not
going to get the surgery."

And his response was,

"I don't think you're making
the right decision

and I think you need
to think about it again."

And I said, "Oh, okay.

I mean, I can think
about it again,

but this is my decision."

He said,
"You should think about it.

Call me back in an hour."

And then he did call me
and he said,

"Dad, I'm-- I'm not
going to have the surgery.

I-- I think I'm done."

[Jason] Like, this was
my dad's dream and not mine.

And that made him so pissed
that we didn't talk for months.

But once Jason
made that decision,

there was a sense of relief.

[Jason] I didn't know
what I was going to do next,

but I was okay with it
not being baseball.

[Jason] School starts again.

I'm drifting at this point.

I'm at the gym working out,

but I don't know what
I'm working out for.

The worst thing in the world
for me as an athlete,

it's not having anything to
compete for it, to be a part of.

And this guy comes up to me.

[Mark] As a coach,
you're always on the lookout

for the next great athlete.

Jason, specifically,
I could tell

he had really strong focus
from the beginning.

[Jason] He says,
"You know, I'm the rowing coach

here at Sonoma

and I think you'd be pretty good
at rowing."

[Amelia] He kind of plucked him
out of a dark spot.

[Mark] So,
the Sonoma State Rowing Program

was the newest program
in the country at that point.

It was a complete shit show.

So, first of all I show up
and it's not a boathouse.

It was a boat yard full of
gravel and shipping containers.

I've been used
to intense try outs

where everybody
goes there is good

and they're eyeing
the competition.

I was too good for these people.
That's what I thought.

Too good for this.

[Mark] While I think sports
like baseball

can be phenomenal team sports,

they don't have
that deep connection

as an individual player.

In rowing,
you're all doing the same thing.

And if you're not together,

you're lost
before you've even begun.

[Mike] Jason is a very big,
intimidating person,

and he really wanted to win

and he wanted everybody
to work as hard as him.

He definitely rubs
a certain type of person

the wrong way.
And there was a--

Somebody on our team
that told him,

"People are only pulling
because they're scared of you."

Yeah, I was a hothead.

And I thought that that showed
a level of passion.

But that's--
that's immaturity there.

I was shocked by
how little I knew what it meant

to be part of a team
until I got into rowing.

Rowing is so interdependent.

If you take
one person out of the boat,

the thing completely crumbles.

There is no
rugged individualism.

And I started to fall in
love with that team aspect.

Mike sat eight seat,
the stroke seat, I sat seven.

I can tell you
every single T-shirt he owns

as I stare
at the back of him.

I see after
we were doing the piece,

how he would almost
collapse upon himself

because he had given everything.

And I loved that about him.

And I was scared to death
of not doing the same thing.

You're more afraid
of letting them down

than you were of the pain

that you were going to go
through at that practice.

And that is
a strong human emotion.

[Mark] And Jason
is one of those people

who won't let anybody down.

That nature in him
really made him perfect

for the sport of rowing.

I realized, no, I did not love
baseball because this is love.

One of the things
that was so apparent

about the sport of rowing
was that it was mine.

*

[Angus]
When Jason called me.

He told me that he was trying
to put a team together

and I'd already semi-committed
to another team.

And I knew that Jason
had the right mind frame

to get a record or win the race,

and I wanted
to be part of that.

[Jason] Angus was my first pick.

He won the race last year,
set the course record,

and he was the skipper
of that team.

[announcer]
Ladies and gentlemen,

37 days,
nine hours and 12 minutes.

New race record.

[cheering]

[Jason] There's a lot of reasons
to want Angus on your team.

A lot of them.

Angus has got over 100 days
of ocean rowing experience.

He's rode the Indian Ocean
as well as the Atlantic.

He's one of the most experienced
ocean rowers alive today.

He builds boats for a living.

Angus is part of a family legacy
of ocean rowers.

His uncle had actually
broken the world record

as the fastest solo rower to
row across the Atlantic Ocean.

His sister has also rowed
across the Atlantic Ocean

with her team breaking
the world record

as the fastest all-women's crew

to ever row
across the Atlantic Ocean.

[crowd din]

[Angus] I've known
Jason for two years.

And sometimes,
you know if someone

is someone you want
to be on a boat with.

He's looking at me
for the technical side

that I've been doing
for quite a few years,

which the weather reading,

and how to make
the boat move fast

through certain wave conditions
and with certain winds.

Last year we were
on track for the record...

and we had a storm that
turned into Hurricane Alex.

We then had to para-anchor
for three days

and we saw the record just
being ripped away from us.

The weather stole
three days away from me.

We missed the world record
by only 32 hours.

We'd landed in Antigua
and we celebrated.

And I already knew that
I wanted to go and do it again.

I just keep getting called back
to go and row it again

and wait for
that perfect crossing.

[mellow techno music]

[Jason] After Angus and I
had decided

that we were going to row
together,

the next sentence
that he gave me was,

"If I was putting
this team together,

I would bring this guy
on the boat, Alex Simpson."

I said, "Okay, who is he?"

He says, "This is a guy I rode
in the Indian Ocean with."

And I said, "All right.
And what makes him so great?"

He is like,
"He just shuts up and rows."

[Alex] I rode
the Indian Ocean in 2013

with Angus
and two other crew members.

We spent 71 days at sea

from Australia
to, originally, Mauritius.

Didn't go to plan.

We ended up
going to the Seychelles.

Equipment was breaking.
We had no spare oars left.

Our batteries were failing.

Our water meter
was failing by the end.

We rowed 4,300 miles.

But I always
wanted to cross again.

I always wanted
to do it better,

always wanted to do it faster.

So, I think I bring
an element of calmness.

I'm a fairly laid-back person.

I'm not looking
to be confrontational

or argumentative on board.

Having said that,
I'm rubbish at waking up.

I've struggled
for the last six months.

It's my girlfriend's annoyance

that getting out of bed
and going to the gym.

[tense instrumental music]

I went through a pretty
hell of a childhood.

So, I was--
I was a really pissed-off kid,

even as an 18-year-old.

It's probably the reason why
I could pull so damn hard.

I just took all that
aggression out physically

on a rowing machine.

I viewed teammates
as obstacles

that you had to go out
and crush.

And I just wanted to
go to all these guys

that I thought had these, like,
you know, privileged childhoods

and I was
going to show them

that I was going to take
their seat in the boat.

I found out really quickly,

well, first of all,
that I love the sport.

And, second, that I wanted
to take it to the highest level.

At that point,
I started considering

that at the end of the day,

you're in a boat
with a couple of other guys.

It's not just you in that boat.

And you're going to cross
the line at the same time.

So, if everyone hates
each other,

the boat is probably
not going to go that fast.

I ended up
making the varsity eight,

the top boat at Yale,
and I rode at Oxford.

I ended up winning

the United States National
Championship in the single.

I've broken maybe six
or seven American records

on the rowing machine.

I went to the Olympic trials
in 2016.

That had been
my dream for 15 years.

And, um, I didn't qualify.

And I spoke to Jason about
a month after that, and he said,

"Hey, I've got something
you might be interested in.

You ever thought about rowing
across the Atlantic?"

He didn't even have to finish
the sentence.

And I was like, "That's it."

So, I've got
a little baby daughter.

We named her Olympia Faith
because we want her to go on

and do amazing things,
Olympic-sized things.

Me doing this race,

I just want to show her

that she can do anything
that she wants to do

and she can be a strong,
powerful woman

and-- and she can look at me
as an example.

[Jason]
Matt and I have a history,

and we rode together on the
East Coast at Vesper Boat Club.

[birds chirping]

[Michiel]
Vesper Boat Club is

the best club
in the United States.

They have more
Olympic gold medals

than any other club
in the United States.

The history, the atmosphere
just breeds success.

If you select a group,
you're not just looking

at, you know,
the best athletes.

You're also
looking at character.

And, uh,
what struck me with Jason

was his dedication to the sport.

[Jason] Michiel doesn't ask
about how well I row,

but he asks about
my background in baseball.

He asked what position I played,
how long I'd been playing for,

how hard I could throw,
all these different things.

And Mark doesn't even know
the answers to all this stuff.

I mean, he's my rowing coach
and not my baseball coach.

Knowing his baseball background,
the details,

the coordination for pitching

that made me decide,
let's give this guy a chance.

[Jason] Michiel offers me
a tentative spot on the team.

And I knock on that door,

and the first guy
to open up the door...

guy is 6'7".

And I'm thinking,
'I'm out of my league.'

I am the least experienced
by far, by years,

the shortest, the lightest,

and come from
the shittiest school."

For Jason to go from,
you know,

our little boat club here
in-- in Sonoma to Vesper

and not only to be successful
there during the summer,

but to be invited back
just is--

Speaks to who Jason is.

So, for the next three years,
I rowed Vesper.

I live in the boathouse.

I've got
this prison-like lifestyle,

practicing twice a day with a
weight session in between.

And my greatest
contribution to this team

could be the guy
that you could rely on.

The guy that would
pick you up from the bar

if you were drinking that night
and shouldn't have been out

in the first place.

The guy that would do extra reps
with you in the weight room

if you needed it,
go out in a boat,

take some extra strokes
if that's what you needed.

I was that guy and it worked.

I go from
the worst rower there

that probably has
no business being there,

to barely making
the second boat...

to being one of the fastest
rowers in the second boat,

to being in
the first boat.

And you could just feel
the legacy

that we had all created together
over the last two years.

To Jason's credit,
working so diligently,

you know, here at Vesper to work
his way into the first boat,

to make such an impact
on such a short time,

quite exceptional.

But he started maybe then

a little bit too late
to make it to the national team.

The goal then, end goal
was to make it to the Olympics.

Some of us did, um,
and some of us didn't.

And I was one that I wasn't
able to quite make it.

*

At the end of three years,
I had a decision to make.

Either do another four years
for the next round of Olympics

or retire and go home
and start a career.

And that's what I decided to do.

[low melancholy music]

So, all four of us
had something in common.

We had fallen short
in some place.

And we were desperate
to change that.

[upbeat music]

Training for a crossing
of this proportion

isn't just your average
marathon-type training.

It takes the average
team approximately two years

to properly prepare
for this endeavor.

Training
not just physically,

but doing emotional
and mental training as well.

Sleep deprivation training.

You're going
to average four hours of sleep

for every 24 hours.

That's going to wear on you
by day three, let alone day 30.

How to train with less calories.

You're going to be
so seasick

the first three to seven days
of this thing

that you'll be lucky if you
get 1,000 calories in

without puking them out.

In which case,
you've got to learn

to be able to still
get on those oars

having a major calorie deficit.

Dehydration training.

Maybe you're only getting
three liters per person

of water a day.

That means you've got
to go ahead and row

12 hours a day
on three liters of water.

You've got to take classes,
such as how to navigate at sea,

how to navigate at night.

You have to train
to live on the boat.

And sometimes the not-rowing
hours are tougher

than the rowing hours.

Hey, man.

Hey, man.
How are you doing?

You all good?

Yeah, yep, yep, yep.
Good.

How are you feeling about it?
Are you mentally ready?

Yeah, I'm--
I'm definitely there.

Like, I'm ready to go.
I'm crawling out of my skin.

You know, I've got
the holidays coming up,

Thanksgiving as you know.

But I'm kind of like
checked out already,

so... I know Amelia's getting
a little nervous.

What about you, man?
How are you feeling?

Yeah, good.

Yeah, been feeling
really good and then,

yeah, starting to feel
a little bit nervous now.

Um, kind of all
the memories coming back

about that first kind of,
you know,

what we're going to have to go
through that first ten days,

just hell.

You have a lot more
to lose in terms of

what you did last year
was so special.

Yeah. There's--

See I don't
get really good [indistinct]

not just the result last time,
but also...

by three really close mates.

So, for them, they kind
of look at me and think,

"Why are you doing it?
There's no reason."

For me, yeah,
there's a lot to lose,

but it's also
just a lot to gain.

So, you've got to take
those risks

and we've done everything
we can to put together

a pretty perfect team.

We're co-leading this,
you know, there is--

there is no skipper
on this team.

So, I'm looking forward to,

you know,
just making decisions together.

Yeah, we've got the engines
in the front, Alex and Matt.

We can just keep feeding
them and tell them what to do.

[laughs]
Yeah.

So, we don't have
to do any rowing.

Just keep throwing food at them.

[laughing]

[low peaceful music]

*

*

[music tempo increases]

[Jason] To properly
prepare for this race,

it's going to cost you
more than it would

if you were trying
to summit Mount Everest.

The first big thing that you've
got to purchase is a boat.

You need corporate
sponsorship for that.

Once you've got the boat,
you've got to fill it

with the things that
are going to be necessary

to keep you alive
as you cross

3,000 miles
of Atlantic Ocean.

You've got a life raft, then
you've got a water desalinator.

This thing weighs a ton.

You've got all the food

that's 5,000 calories
per person per day.

The race requires you

to pack a minimum
of 60 days worth of food.

You've got your radios,
your SAT phones,

your navigation,
your chart plotters,

tools for fixing
all of these things.

If it can't be fixed,

you're going to have to learn
to live without it,

which means you've got to bring
other things, like a hand pump

so, if your water
maker breaks on you,

you're going
to literally be pumping

saltwater by hand
the rest of the crossing.

And you've
got your personal stuff.

Sleeping bags to keep you warm
when you're sleeping at night.

A few extra layers
of clothes, foul weather gear,

spare shorts,
hats, sunscreen.

Then you've got something
called the ditch bag.

This is a bag that,
if all goes wrong,

you're going to take this
along with you in your lifeboat.

And this is going to be
everything that you need.

Your passports, money.

And I haven't started
to mention things

already mounted on the boat:
solar panels, rudders.

These are all things that
are going into this small boat.

And that means that
if you want to take less food

so that you have more room
for other things,

you're taking a chance there.

Once you've got your boat,

you start to focus on
some of the competition.

It's a good competition,

I heard the Row For James guys
are really strong.

They've been using their boat
while they've been training

with the right guys.

And I'm really looking
forward to that competition.

[Jason] I think Row For James
are definitely competitors

and, you know, a couple of
the guys are bigger than I am.

We've done everything
we can to prepare mentally

and physically, preparing
our boat now behind us.

I think the biggest anxiety

you have with ocean rowing
is the unknown.

I would be lying if
I said that there wasn't fear

and thinking
about the 30 days

because of the discomfort,
the pain.

The last year,

I've been obsessed with putting
together the right guys,

prepping the boat
in the right way,

training the right way.

[Jason] And then all
of a sudden, here we were.

The morning of the race.

[ringing]

Hi, Olympia.
Where's Daddy rowing a boat?

On the ocean.

On the ocean.

That's right.

[laughs]

[woman]
Daddy is on the ocean?

On a boat!

On a boat.

[woman] Do you want to show
Daddy the picture?

Go, get it.

Okay, she's going to go get
a picture with Santa.

She was so excited,
she kept saying,

"Going to see Santa."

And then we got there
and she was, like, silent.

And she wouldn't
even sit on his lap.

[laughs]

Oh, that's cute.

[suspenseful music]

[man] So, I wish you
all safe crossing.

Be careful out there
and see you in Antigua.

[clapping]

*

[clapping]

[suspenseful music]

*

[oars thud]

[water splashing]

Oh. All right.

Coming into the afternoon
of our first row,

first day,
already seen dolphins.

That's a good sign.

From the very first stroke
I was motivated and excited.

So, we rowed three up
for probably half a day

and we had two hours on,
and 40-minutes off.

We're currently
in the most southern boat.

Hello. Jason?

And we all have
this vivid memory of Matt

coming off the oars,
dripping in sweat.

The very first stroke,

I'm treating it, like,
it's a 2,000-meter race.

I'm, like, chugging water
and just sweating like crazy.

He's just drenched
and he gets out of the wet food

and he is just eating
and all-day breakfast.

And he goes,

"Got to stay hydrated,
got to keep the--

got to keep the--
got to keep the body going."

Just coming up on 24 hours
since the race start.

I think it's fair
to say that

the adrenaline of the start
has worn off.

And now we're trying
to slowly settle

into the reality
of a month-plus at sea.

Something started to change.

And I start-- I started
feeling a little bit queasy.

People starting
to feel ill, tired

and, uh-- and having trouble
holding anything down

and having an appetite.

But that's all to be expected.

Nobody's complaining
and just powering through it.

I started to throw up.

The obvious reservations
that Matt

hadn't spent
a lot of time at sea.

On paper,
we knew that he was able

to pull
the oar stronger than us.

To Jason that meant
a lot, but in my eyes,

that screams disaster.

He was trying to eat,
trying to hydrate himself.

Nothing was happening,
and that's normal.

I thought it was fine.

Give him
two to three days.

I was on this team to be
the guy who's the strong rower.

And that was
my strength on the team.

And I wasn't doing that.

He was losing a lot of weight.
I was rowing in front of him.

I noticed the power
disappearing behind me.

Angus would spend Matt's
first hour on a shift with him

and then I'd come in
and spend the second hour.

So, as we pass
each other, he'd say,

"Hey, he's barely pulling
at all."

[wind gusting]

[Matt] It got worse and worse
and worse.

Alex was right
outside the cabin door

and I would throw the door open
and hopefully make it to--

to the edge of the boat,

just puking up everything
that was in my stomach.

I went through for four
or five days just thinking,

"This-- this is now time
wasting."

And it coincided a time where
Row For James were equal to us,

ahead of us and behind us

and every stroke, every day,
every mile mattered.

And then we have Matt
not performing to his 100%.

And that was
really, really painful.

I know more
than anyone that you need

to have everything 100%
to get that record.

I think Jason must have-- must
really be having flashbacks.

You see, he was
getting nervous about it.

And there's
a lot of me thinking,

"Have you not learned
a thing from last year?"

[Jason]
Let me pause right there.

[tape rewind screeching]

This is not the first time
that I was attempting this race.

In fact, I had attempted
this row a year ago in 2015.

So just a week
after we got married,

we went to Costa Rica
and I flew home

and he flew to the Canaries
to get ready for the race.

It didn't really hit me until
the day that he was leaving

that I won't see you for
a month and a half, maybe more.

[Jason] Look, I knew it was
going to be hard on Amelia,

but in my mind,
it was worth it.

I was going to redefine
the sport of ocean rowing.

It was two ends
of the spectrum for this race.

You've got on
one end the Salty Sailors

that can take storms
and know how to read storms,

that can over-correct,
that can take harsh conditions.

And that is certainly
a lot to be said there.

Then on the other end
of the spectrum,

it's pretty much our team.

We've created a new spectrum,

I think,
which is this elite athlete

that comes from the
traditional rowing background.

It doesn't matter that
they haven't gone in the ocean.

It matters that they understand
what pain is all about.

They all know
how to fight through that.

I'll start off with
Tom Magarov.

Tom and I have worked together
for the last three years.

Since then, him and I
have become very, very close.

He was one of
my groomsmen at my wedding.

Next guy, Nick Khan.

Six-foot-four,
huge guy, great rower,

an elite athlete,
to say the least.

Greg Wood,
fourth and final guy.

He's got
a lot of boat knowledge.

I had selected people that
on paper were perfect for this.

They were essentially,
like hired guns.

I mean, Jason thought
for sure they were going to win.

I was surprised
at how confident he was.

The only thing we were really
worried about was Angus' team.

These four guys
were old childhood friends

that had grew up together
in boarding school,

and this race was literally
a reunion for them,

which is why they call
themselves Ocean Reunion.

So, we've been training
for that for two years now

and we've had
to sacrifice a lot.

Some of us have lost jobs,
lost girlfriends.

So, if you're going
to sacrifice all of that,

you might as well try
and win the race.

But it's not up to us
at the end of the day.

Even though
they were loud and obnoxious,

showing up late
to mandatory meetings,

seeming like they're half drunk
when they were there,

it was also so apparent

how much they loved
and respected one another.

They had come
with the ambition

of breaking the world record

for the fastest four-man
crossing, as had we.

Love you.

-Good luck to you.
-Yeah, you too.

Thanks for helping us.
Yeah.

And in the ocean rowing world,
that's a big thing

like the four-minute mile,
it's the 30-day crossing.

And it is only possible

if the weather
is absolutely perfect

and the team is perfect
and the boat is immaculate.

But I try not to think about
it because I'm going to jinx it.

So, our goal is
and it's always been to row

these 3,000 miles
in 30 days.

There is some arrogance
in that.

There has to be a little bit
of arrogance,

you're crossing the fucking
ocean, for Christ's sake.

Jason, I thought, he was
very naive to the ocean,

very good at talking about
rowing hard,

not knowing what that meant.

A lot of people think,
"Oh, I rowed a Henley Regatta,

I rowed
for my university,

therefore, I'm good
for rowing an ocean.

And the fact of the matter is,
when you're rowing out

in the Atlantic, you're
rocking all over the place.

It's nothing like river rowing.

There are
so many other prerequisites

that are more important
than rowing itself.

[chattering]

You have to think that

you're a little bit special
in order to do that.

If you don't,
you're in trouble.

And I could be wrong.

Talk-- talk to me
after this race.

And if we finish in 50 days,
then everyone can say,

"I told you so."

[suspenseful music]

Within 24 hours of starting
this race,

Nick started getting sick.

He started throwing up
as he was rowing.

One of the toughest things
I saw him do

throw up, row,
throw up, row.

And it didn't take more than
a half a day of us being out

in those swells for him to start
taking a turn for the worse.

As the days went on, I tried
eating, I tried drinking water.

Nothing was staying down.

And then finally
it got to a point

where he couldn't even move.

And then he never left
the cabin.

And that was-- that
was the beginning of the end.

By day six,
he was so dehydrated,

malnourished and seasick

that he was starting to shake
and talk out of his mind,

even saying he was going to jump
out of the water and swim home.

And so, I made the call
to the duty officers

who knew that this was now
a life-threatening situation,

that he needed to be taken
off-board and given an IV.

You guys are going to come out?

You're going
to send a boat out?

Two days plus, you think.

They're going
to leave today?

We anchored, which
we weren't expecting to do.

We did not know that
we were going to have to anchor.

But it makes sense, right?

Stay where you are
so that the sailboat

doesn't have to chase you down.

The first thought that
rolled through my mind was,

"Shit, we're not going
to win this race."

The thought of anchoring
for days

while teams
were going ahead of us

was, you know,
soul crushing to me.

We always knew that Latitude
were going to be a big threat.

And then we realized Latitude

just basically
weren't really moving,

compared to the other
four-man boats.

We thought something bad
must have happened.

[Jason]
We knew Nick was going.

I was very surprised
by the fact

that Greg came up to me
and said...

"Jason, I-- I think
I'm going to go with Nick.

Now, remember,
Nick needs to get off the boat.

This is
life-threatening for him.

This was not his choice.

But, Greg,
Greg's healthy.

Before we even left,
we were talking about the team

and-- and how we were
acting or how we meshed.

And Nick and I were like,

"Yeah, we're on the team,

but we're not as tight
as Tom and Jay ever were."

And there's a little crack
like, you know,

that something's not as tight
as it could be

or probably should be
when you're going to go on

an outrageously difficult
journey.

Jason didn't want
to acknowledge that the team

he put together
wasn't going to work.

The record was slipping
away very quickly.

[waves crashing]

[man on radio] To any
campaigns [indistinct] vessel,

this is Latitude 35 American
Spirit. Go ahead. Over.

[woman on radio] We are
reading three miles,

so you should be having eye
contact with us.

The minute you do,
please call and let us know.

'Cause for us, it's quite
difficult to see you.

[man on radio] We heard
all that and roger that.

[Jason]
The driver of that boat,

she came into us
in the high winds.

Getting our boats
attached was a trick

because they threw
the-- the line out.

You know,
it went under our boat.

It got wrapped
around our rudder.

[man]
[indistinct] rudder.

[Jason]
To have it under our boat

on our rudder,
could flip our boat.

Eventually, we got attached
to the cleat and we were good.

Now, the problem is
they would get too close.

A wave would bring them into us.

[man] Watch out,
watch out, watch out.

[Jason] And, you know,
if their boat hits our boat,

we are going to be devastated.

Greg got off fairly
easily because he was stronger.

[indistinct chatter]

All right.

Our boat kept getting tugged
every four minutes.

Which would throw us back
and off our balance.

And at this point,

we're trying to deal with
a sick person

who can barely stand up.

He was in the cabin,
scared, moaning, crying.

And I-- and this is one of
the toughest men I've ever met.

I've got the life preserver.

He's holding it.
He's got it.

He's attached.

I'm about to drop him in.
"Are you ready?"

"Yes."
We drop him in.

The first thing that
happens is that he loses it.

He loses the line.

He then proceeds
to go underneath our boat.

[bubbling]

He's gone.

[dramatic music]

I think that's
the only time in my life

when I have actually
been scared.

Um.

You're-- you're one person
just in the ocean

um, floating there
on your own

and hoping that one of these
two tiny little boats

is going to be able
to save you.

[suspenseful music]

[Jason] His foot gets tangled
underwater on the line

that attaches our boat
to theirs

and is now wrapped around
his foot

and it's pulling tight
and he is screaming,

"My foot's going to break."

Tom, in a great moment
of clarity

takes a knife and cuts us away.

[man] Oh, it's gone.
It's gone.

No, no, no, Maria,
it's off, it's loose.

No, no, no, no, be careful.
Please. Please.

[Maria yelling indistinctly]

[dramatic music playing]

[indistinct yelling]

[man] Oh God!

[Maria] Oh no!
Stop it, stop the boat.

[Nick] Please help!

[man] Okay.

*

[Jason] I've seen
the worst case scenario

with Nick in 2015.

I wasn't about to make
that same mistake with Matt.

[Matt]
There was finally this point

where almost
to the end of a shift,

I had 35 minutes left
and I said to J,

"Buddy, I don't know
if I can do this

for the next shift."

[Alex] We knew Matt
was really suffering.

We had to pull together
to-- to help him anyway.

Matt was pretty sick
the last couple of days,

rowing, throwing up
over the side of the boat

and just kept on rowing.

Last was pretty bad,
so Angus and I split his shifts,

giving him some time
to eat and then fall asleep,

drink and fall asleep.

[Matt] And I took
that two-hour rest session.

Jay came
and knocked on the cabin door

after a couple hours and
he's like, "How are you doing?

Like, drink some water."

He was just being
very kind of like nurturing.

He didn't even ask if
I was ready to come out.

He-- he knew that
I needed some more time.

You know, six hours is
better than two hours sleep.

And by the end of that session,

I had had even
a little bit of water

and I was holding it down

and I had just
a bite of a granola bar

and I held that down.

And I was like, "I think--

I think I'm going
to make it through this.

[Jason]
Here's the old Matt.

He's back.
He's getting stronger

and we can
feel him pulling now.

We went south.

History has shown that the
better winds are in the south

and we were going
to try to catch those.

Row For James
decided to go almost due west

and take
essentially a straight line.

Within a couple of days,
we were realizing

that they were catching
much faster wind and waves,

much fairer conditions
than we were.

Angus came onto the team as
like the guy who knows routing

and he's got this
perfect routing strategy

and you could sort of see

Angus doubting
himself a little bit.

And I didn't really
let on to Jason and Matt,

but I think Alex knew as well

because I had experienced

that we were in
a disadvantaged position.

And-- and it was
really hard to admit

that we weren't in as--
in as strong position as them.

We actually rowed more
miles than them every shift.

And so we knew that
we were a faster boat

and we knew that
we can out row them.

So, we then had to have
a big, aggressive move

to come up to them.

And then we brought
the fight to them.

[Jason] This is not a powerboat.
This is not a sailboat.

This is a self-propelled
boat with oars,

so if you are
changing direction

and going against
either the winds or the waves,

you're going to
slow yourself down.

So in order to get there,

we're going to slow
down and be wet and miserable

in an effort to
just get to them.

It was one of the hardest bits
to row.

I feel like I still
have a crick in my neck

because the waves
hit you, and hit you,

and you're just kind
of trying to manage the wave

that is the next wave
that's coming over to hit you.

And I was constantly
looking left, I think,

for three straight days.

All night long, all we did was
get soaking wet and row hard.

It took a toll on us today.

Um, we're going to
do it again tonight.

[Alex]
We'd work really hard to go

and catch Row For James.

[Matt]
And when we finally got to them,

we would
straighten up a little bit.

We passed them. Barely.

And then they passed us again.

We were 900 miles in

and we were separated
by five miles.

For us to be looking around

and wondering if
that white cap was a boat,

"Is that them right there?"
It was incredible.

And so every four hours,

we required Tom,
our land manager,

to send a text updating us
with our speed, our bearing,

our distance away
from Row For James,

whether behind or ahead.

It became a very
technical row at that point.

It was make decisions
all the time,

check the bearing,
keep an eye on the speed.

3.1, 3.0, 3.3.

And we were
sitting at 2.7, 2.8,

which meant that they
were gaining half a mile

to a mile on us, every update.

[Matt] Today is Christmas Day
here on the high seas.

This one today
is my Christmas card.

It's from Olympia.

That's sweet. She put
all these stickers on it.

Hey, how's it going?

We're good. Um,
Merry Christmas [indistinct].

Hey, Mom.

Thank you for
the Christmas presents.

Merry Christmas.

We're celebrating
here on the American Spirit.

It's the evening.

Ho, ho, ho, ho!
Got our Christmas hats on.

There are stockings down here,

Matt's in his pride and glory.

There he is. Christmas day.

Thank you, Mom.
Merry Christmas.

-Jason is getting into--
-[Jason] Hold on!

[Alex]
Into suit.

Angus is at rowing still.

[Angus whooping]

[Alex] No rest for
the wicked at Christmas.

Ho, ho, ho!

It doesn't feel
like Christmas at all.

Rashly flapping on water.

And I've got three up,

after the last shift
for doing an extra 30 minutes

because we are two
miles behind Row For James.

[Jason]
There's nothing about the ocean

that says a human
being should be living

or thriving there.

Everything is
slowly killing you.

You're exposed
to way too much heat.

You are burning more calories

than you're able
to put in your body.

The salt is all over your body

and it's creating soreness,
it's creating infection.

[Angus]
So even when you come off shift

and you've been soaked by waves,
you dry yourself off,

you will still have
salt crystals in your body

and you feel like

you're just being
pickled in the cabin.

And you feel all
itchy and almost like

if you've jumped into
a bed of stingy nettles.

And you're pickling there.

And then you
come back out on shift

and it's almost relieving
when he first get hit by a wave

because you feel like
you've washed it off.

And then it dries on you again

and then you
carry on being pickled.

[Jason] Basically,
whenever you're moving

when that salt gets in
there and it's just rubbing

and wearing down your
skin and creating sores.

[Alex]
What are we looking at here?

[hissing in pain]

Oh.

Oh, yes. That's nice.

Not sure [indistinct] looking--
looking any better.

[Matt] After a while
you've just sat on this thing

for so long
that it's compressed

and gotten smaller
in all the places

that it was supposed
to take the pressure off.

So I'm making a new one.

Ligament damage
to the hands.

So [indistinct].

You'll see if I don't grab the
oars, my hands stay like this.

I mean,
I can straighten them out,

but they always just go back.

Um, I try to stretch
them out but really,

there's not much you can do.

Apart from that
we're swimming pretty easy.

It's uh, five in the morning.

Just got in the cabin and uh,
Matt, it was very nice of him--

[Matt] Hello.

Did a fucking massive fart.

[Matt]
Hello, Mommy, you, all right?

As I walked in.

So, I'm going to fart
all evening in here

and I'm going to close it now
and just fart away.

[somber music]

[Angus] When you've got rashes
all over your body

and your ass is in so much pain

and your legs, you're getting
more and more bruises.

Those cuts are getting deeper.

It is a big mind
game with yourself.

And...

how can you make sure
that your mind doesn't give up?

I don't know.

[Jason] After Nick
was evacuated back in 2015,

Tom and I slogged it out

for a grueling 41 more days
to get to the finish line.

On the last day,

as Tom and I were rowing in,
the sun's up.

We're just miles away.
We can already see land.

And Tom is giddy.

He's giddy with excitement.

He sounds like a crazy man.

He's laughing at everything.
He's joking.

He's singing,
and he's-- he's happy.

But I'm not as happy or as giddy
or as excited as he is.

And I don't know why that is.

I almost feel ashamed
where I found myself

kind of like
acting a little bit.

[crowd cheering]

[man]
[indistinct]

[Amelia]
I'm looking at Jason,

and he doesn't look like
any human that I've ever seen.

I mean,
he just looks so emaciated,

completely weathered,
and just fragile.

He lost 40 pounds.

Everything was
just aching, sore,

pretty much falling apart.

His body seemed defeated.

And in my mind, I'm thinking,

"Yeah, this is probably
one and done."

This seemed awful.

[indistinct chattering]

[man]
You all right?

[Jason]
I was just so overconfident

at the beginning of that race

and we had got
our asses handed to us.

And now all of a sudden,

that confidence
was just replaced

with doubt and despair.

I couldn't shake this--
this feeling of failure.

Maybe I am a guy
who's not good enough.

The guy that
finishes in second or 11th.

The guy who dreams big
but can't quite finish.

So what does
that do to a person?

Do you just give up?

Do you go back
to your comfortable life?

Or try again?

I knew that
I needed to do it again.

Why? Why do you want
to do this again?

I mean, I know you didn't win,

and I know that
so many things went wrong.

But why do you want
to do this again?

It affects me, too.

Like, he's not
here for Christmas.

You get a sad phone call
maybe once a week,

maybe it's twice.

You're lucky
if it's three minutes

and you can actually hear
what he's saying

on the other end.

You know, you're praying to God

that he's really doing
as well as he says he is.

But it's just
a lot of emotional strain.

And especially
if it's not going well,

it's really difficult
on both people.

Is there ever going
to be enough?

What's going to be the end game?

You know, if you--
What if you don't win this year,

it's a huge question mark.

It could be another
awful year of weather.

Something else could happen.

Someone else could be sick.

And then what if
you don't win again

or break the record
or even come in second or third?

Then what?
Then, are we doing it again?

This is the last time.
[chuckling]

[Jason]
You lie.

And you tell the person

that you love
more than anyone in the world,

that no matter what happens
after this one,

I'll be happy
with whatever result.

But she and I both knew
that that wasn't true.

I've felt like I had a life

full of second place medals,
you know?

We've got this baseball
thing that didn't work out.

We've got the Olympics
that I just missed.

And now we've got this race.

We did something
against all odds, Tom and I,

But we didn't win the race.
That's what we went for.

We went to win the race
and we didn't.

I'm just so tired of, like,
always being that close

and people saying, "Well,
it was a valiant effort."

I don't want
valiant efforts anymore.

I know when to quit.

Like I've shown that in my life.

I mean, I chose
to not get the surgery,

and I had a choice
at the end of Vesper

to go another round,
another four years.

So I wasn't
a stranger to quitting.

I understood
how to give things up

when it was right
for me and for my family.

But this didn't feel right.
It didn't feel right.

There was something
that was gnawing at me.

And it was that time with Greg.

It's easy to get down
on Greg in this.

He left.
He abandoned us.

But in the end, as the captain
and the leader of that team,

I had failed
to keep Greg on that boat.

And that failure was
the biggest motivation

for doing it a second time.

[Amelia]
I think maybe he forgot about

the great teams that
he was on at Sonoma State,

at Vesper and the love
that he had for those guys.

And that's the feeling
that he wanted to create

for the second row.

[Jason]
I've learned something

and I'm going
to do it the right way.

Inevitably,
the first person I ask is Tom,

to which I think he replied,
"Fuck no."

[laughing]

And-- Which was fair.

But he did agree
to be the land manager.

I started to build
a community of people.

Yeah, we spent time
rowing and working out,

but we spent more time
just being with each other.

Having meals together.

Getting to learn
about them more.

Our wives and girlfriends
should be part of this team.

That change in perspective

is the greatest difference
between 2015 and 2016.

[dramatic music]

*

[Jason] We started to
make some changes here.

And I think this is--
this was the tipping point

with our competition
with Row For James.

We kind of reset and we said,

"Let's do everything
that we need to do on this boat

to give us the advantage."

[Alex] That's when our power,
sea knowledge,

rowing experience
came into itself.

[Matt]
So we started to get lighter.

Any food that we didn't need,

we were taking out
of the packets and dumping.

[Jason]
We re-trimmed the boat.

We shifted weight around

to make it a little
bit easier to surf the waves.

[Matt] That's Alex
bravely volunteering to go

and clean
the bottom of our boat.

We've been wondering
why the boat's been going slow

and this is the reason.

[Angus] Like Jason
and I both appreciated

that we lead teams
in different ways,

and I'm more of a technical,
factual leader

where Jason's more
of an emotional leader.

That's when Jason's leadership
came in and he said,

"Right, here we go."

And he set big goals.

Goals that I thought there's
no way you should even--

You may be thinking of it,
say it out loud,

50 miles,
we're five hours behind them,

why are we thinking
about 50 miles ahead of them?

And you then see

that every stroke
does make a difference.

[Jason] Matt is back
to his full strength.

He was now feeling like
he needed the full extra time.

Now this guy is
starting to just finish

his two-hour shift,
shovel some food down,

and then all of a sudden,

he just started putting
oars in that third position.

I'm like, "What are you doing?"

And he's like,
"I think I'm just going to row

for another hour.
I feel pretty good."

He just say it
like it was no big deal.

Like he was,
"I'm going to go feed my fish."

[Angus] And I came out,
I actually got angry,

got angry at
one stage and said,

"I'm not going
to look after you

when you need to go to sleep.

You need to get
off the oars and eat."

And he said, "Don't worry, guys.
I can do this."

This is the first time
he did a six-hour shift,

and I sat there in front
of him fuming, thinking,

"Here we go.
We've got somebody who thinks

they row for six hours,

hero and he's going to be
asleep in four hours time

with a bad back."

He got back up
and did six hours,

went to sleep for two hours
and two hours off,

got back on route
just as hard as anyone else,

if not harder.

Unbelievable.

I mean,
that kind of selflessness

would just put
a smile on my face.

I've been on
my off shift for 30 minutes

and I'm still
sweating like this.

I'm trying to get as
much food as I possibly can.

So it's that day 18,
it's New Year's day in fact,

the first of January 2017,
Happy New Year.

[Matt]
Jason does a fantastic job

of making these days exciting.

So, for example,

here is the itinerary
that he's come up with,

7 PM, a dinner with
the theme of White Night,

1 PM, Rocking Karaoke
in the Windjammer Lounge.

That's at 1 PM. That's--

that's coming up really soon.

Angus, you come out
so well on film, though.

Say something funny.

[Angus] How do you make
an American boat win a race?

[Matt] How do you make
an American boat win a race?

You put two Brits on it.

[all laughing]

**

Hand steering.
We're hand steering all night.

Decent amount of it today.

**

[Alex]
We just got off

a really good
night shift with Angus.

Matt's coming on the oars now.

Stunning moon up there.

**

I hate to even say it,

but right now we're tracking
you for the race record,

even the world record.

We're on pace, but...

the ocean is fickle
as [indistinct]

Who knows what
we're going to have to do.

Talking about record
is not a good thing.

And Jason and Matt
loves talking about it.

Angus and I was slightly
more reserved about it.

Angus and I might have
a little chat on the oars

at 3 AM and when it was
just me and him on the oars,

and I went,
"What do you think about

this record attempt?"

And he went,
"Yeah. I'm not quite sure

if we're going to make it.

I'm a bit nervous about the
weather coming in tomorrow."

[Jason]
So about every day or two,

we download the next file
to get the update

on what the weather
is going to look like.

Angus downloads
it one day and I say,

"How's it looking?"

"Well, it looks good
for the next few days,

but I'm seeing something."

And I said, "Well, what is it?"

And he says,
"That's just a lull."

I said,
"Okay, well, lull's okay,

we can power through that."

He says, "Yeah, but it's long."
It's like three days.

If we got
a 24-hour buffer right now

that we're working
for the world record,

there's no way that a lull
is going to wipe that out.

Then, on Friday the 13th,
everything went against us.

The weather got harder,
the water got thicker,

the wind died down,
the waves came from the north

and our average speed dropped
and dropped and dropped.

But we had flat water
and we couldn't move the boat.

We were going 0.7 knots
with three people rowing.

All of a sudden,

the water felt like you
were rowing through cement.

That lull turned
into a storm as a headwind.

You're going so slow
at that point

that the auto tiller that
helps steer you usually fails

because you're not
actually going fast enough

for it to steer.

Now, we're going at 0.2 knots
at the moment.

Which for those
of you who aren't nautical,

you can probably
crawl on your hands

and knees at around one knot.

It's back breaking.

The boat just doesn't move,

doesn't glide
through the water.

And worst of all is

it's a repeat
of what happened last year.

To have it taken away again
because of weather,

because of something
that's outside your control

was just heartbreaking.

[Matt] The waves are coming in
from every single direction.

I mean,
the sea was so confused.

We're not even going
half-knot forwards,

we're getting blown backwards.

Angus came out of the cabin
and he said,

"Get the pair anchor out."
And I was like, "No."

That meant that we had
been beaten by the elements.

We could no longer maintain
what we were doing.

It-- it's almost not
fair how hard we're pushing

and how dedicated
we've been to this

and we've done everything right,
rowed as hard as we can.

[Matt]

I was thinking like, "God,
why do you always, always--

You get me,
like so close to it?

And why can't, just this once,
you give it to me?

Like, give me my dream

and give me what
I worked so hard for.

[voice cracking] And that's
the point when I was like,

I was so angry.

And it just felt like

it was gone,
slipping through our hands.

[dramatic music]

[Jason] When I thought
we aren't going to make it,

I couldn't help but
think back to the year before.

It was the day before
the evacuation of Nick

and I met Tom
on the deck of the boat.

[Tom] I was sitting
towards the boat cabin

and I was thinking,
the race was over for us.

All the prep, all the families,

it's going to go down to,
unfortunately, waste.

And I-- I did not
think there was an option.

[Jason] So then Tom says,
"J, just come with us.

We can't do this by ourselves."

And I say, "Yes, we can.
This is possible to do."

And I said,
"Think about the glory

that you could do
two man rowing a boat

that's supposed
to be rowed by four

across the Atlantic Ocean."

These were
the reasons why I knew

I wasn't getting off this boat.

But in the end,
those weren't Tom's reasons.

He's one of my best friends.

He's like a big brother to me.

So, I wouldn't
have left him behind.

[Jason] And he said,
"J, I'm not going to let you

do this on your own."

I know how scared Tom was
to say that.

And he knew when that boat left,

when that sailboat left,
he had no-- nowhere else to go.

He was stuck
with me in this boat

and he said he
was going to do it.

And he was very, very scared.

About a week after,
we had had the evacuation,

about a week of us struggling,

rowing a boat that's too
big for us, too heavy for us,

it's manhandling us

and the nights
that are just punishing.

[wind roaring]

I think we wanted
to just chuck it in,

just be done with it.

And I think right then,
Tom comes out,

the first thing he says when
he gets out of the cabin is,

"Well, what do you want
for breakfast?"

Which-- which to me
was like, "What are you--

Out of all
the things you could say,

why do you ask me
what I want for breakfast?"

But there was a complete
mind shift right there.

And instead of saying,
"What do I want for breakfast?

I just had
the worst night of my life."

I thought about it, I said,
"What do I want for breakfast?"

And I said, "I think
I want chicken risotto."

I was just kind
of going with it.

He said, "All right,
you want a coffee?"

I said, "Yeah, I want coffee."

He says, "You want cream in it?"

I said, "Yeah,
put the hazelnut creamer in it.

What are you going
to have for breakfast?"

An he says, "I'm thinking
about spaghetti Bolognese."

So we decided to take
30 minutes off the oars,

not rowing.

That was the worst thing to do.

But we took 30 minutes that
morning and we ate our food.

We sat there, face-to-face,
eating our food,

drinking our coffee,
30 minutes,

and instead of complaining
about our miserable plight,

we started laughing about it.

"Oh, you guys, you should've
seen what happened last night."

"I had a flying fish
hit me right in the face."

"Are you kidding me?"

A flying fish hit you in the--"

And we're sharing these stories
and now we're laughing

and we're joking about stuff.

And then the next morning,

we decided to take
that 30 minutes again.

It became our ritual.

Those 30 minutes
is what we lived for.

Every day, at least
we had those 30 minutes.

Couldn't wait
for those 30 minutes.

Yeah. Tom comes up
for the camera now.

He's been sleeping
for the last two hours.

[laughing]

[Tom] It was one of the things
we would not give up on,

no matter what happens.

If Ian called us and he said,

"Guys, 30 more minutes
of rowing a day,

you will pass
a couple more boats."

We would say,
"We'll probably not pass them."

[Jason] And we never
sacrificed those 30 minutes,

no matter what happens,
we always took those 30 minutes.

Those 30 minutes
ended up being what saved us.

Because those 30 minutes

were continually recommitting
ourselves to each other.

[Tom] We answered the question
of why we're doing this.

And we kept going.

And I'm glad we did keep going.

[Jason] And so
that's what I was thinking of

as the team and I were
sitting there demoralized

and Angus and I were trying
to figure out what to do next.

And so we decided, I'm going
to pull the pair anchor in

and try rowing.

And I'm hand steering there
and all of a sudden,

I see out around
the corner of my eye,

"I'm like, J, J,
look over there."

There was just a little fin
coming up behind the boat.

I'm like, "J, it's a shark.
That's definitely a shark."

We're all soaking wet.
We're silent, we're demoralized.

And J's there,

like a little kid leaning off
the side of the boat.

He's got a bag

of one of our dehydrated meals,
beef broccoli.

And he's sprinkling it out

like he's feeding
a little goldfish in a bowl.

And we just started
cracking up at that point.

Like, the lowest
point in the race.

[teammates laughing]

[Jason] What a nice, little
rainy day on the Atlantic.

By that afternoon,
the weather cleared.

The shark found
something better to do.

The Sun started coming out
right just about sunset.

[Angus] And then slowly,
the waves died down there again,

so we were going one knot.

And you get
a little bit more positive.

And then suddenly,
we were going 1.5 knots.

And then
we're out of Friday the 13th.

We're into Saturday.

And Sunday, we're back
to three knots again.

[Jason] I crawl in the cabin
to do the math.

We've got five days left

until the expiration
of the world record,

almost to the hour.

And we've got almost to
the mile, 400 miles left to go,

which means that
we had 80-mile days

to achieve for
the next five days.

To put that in perspective.

70-mile days,
if you average 70 miles a day,

that's a world record speed.

75-mile days is incredible,

which makes 80-mile days
just short of a miracle.

And to have
to string five of those.

It seems impossible.

I had myself a little--

a little cry right there
in the cabin by myself.

I opened the cabin door

and I've got three
expectant faces looking at me,

waiting to hear
what that number is.

The first person that spoke
was Matt who said,

"Oh, thank God, I thought
you were going to say 100."

He says,
"This team can do 80-mile days.

The second person
to say something was Alex,

who really
struggled that night to row,

was literally falling
asleep on the oar, says,

"I'll do
whatever it takes, Skip.

I'll row all night
if I have to."

And then Angus, who was
right in front of me, rowing,

said, "This is the reason
why we joined teams.

We wanted the best chance
at breaking a world record.

It isn't a great chance,
but it's ours."

The response by my teammates
was the culmination

of everything
that I had ever achieved

at Sonoma and Vesper
and with Tom in the first row.

I knew that I'd done
what I had come out to do.

I had put together a team
that could do the impossible.

Everyone was about each other.

It ceased to become
about the world record.

It became about
the men in the boat.

[emotional music]

*

Up to that point,
our best day was 81 miles.

And our worst day
was, like, 20 miles.

So Saturday,
we rowed two hours on,

three up, 40 minutes off,
the length of the day.

And that was
the hardest day physically

I've ever had in my life.

[Alex] You know, your bum's
sore, your hands are sore.

You haven't got time
to really stop and have a rest.

So the Great Depression is over.

We are now going about
2.5 to 3 knots.

And that day we did 79 miles.

[Jason]
Leaving everything out there.

We didn't quite get
what we needed that day.

Day two,
smashed it with 92 miles.

Every stroke, pushing ourselves
as hard as possible.

My thought was, "No way
can we actually do this."

[Jason] Day three,
just cruising, rowing hard,

hitting four knots.

We did 91 miles.

[Angus] Everyone was starting
to stick their hand up and say,

"Yeah, I'll
row an extra shift."

Matt was sticking
his head out in five minutes,

"Yeah. Get me on the oars."

[Jason] Day four,
weather slows down a bit,

we still hit 88 miles.

The ocean was throwing
everything it had at us.

And it just-- it wasn't enough.

It wasn't enough
to break our spirit.

The sun came up on Wednesday,
the last day,

and uh, 20+ miles ahead
of the pace

that everyone thought
was impossible to hold.

And we were looking down
the barrel of a 50 mile a day,

50 miles to go.

And then we realized, right,

we're actually 12 hours ahead
of what the record is.

We all met on deck.

We pulled out
a flask of whiskey.

Is this actually recording?

-There is the thing.
-Yeah.

[Matt] Okay. It's the last night
here on the American Spirit.

It has been a true honor

to share this experience
with you.

There's more ships
like this, mate.

There are big ships,
but no ships' like friendships.

-[Matt] Brilliant.
-Here, here.

[Matt]
I am eternally grateful

to have shared this
opportunity with all you guys.

Here we are,
checking off boxes,

winning the race by 200 miles

and setting the course record.

And if all goes well
in the next 24 hours,

setting the world record.

It can't be done
without a team like this.

So, cheers to you, guys.

[Angus]
Thank you, Skipper.

[Matt] "The motivation
to strive forward

in any endeavor
or personal journey comes,

quite simply, from passion.

The word passion
actually comes from

the Latin word
that means 'to suffer.'

Every now and then, you'll have
to suffer for the things

that are important to you.

The inevitable failures
and setbacks are not easy.

At times,
they cut painfully deep,

and you'll be tempted to
turn your back on the challenge

because that seems vast,
overwhelming or unattainable.

Whatever your ocean is,

strive with a spirit
of excellence to cross it.

If you can take
those harrowing blows

and come across

with your zeal for life
still intact,

you'll have not
only a quiet confidence,

but also a sense of humility

because the journey, like
the sea, is bigger than you.

[voice cracking] Your ocean
is there to define you."

[Angus] I was extremely excited
to step on dry land,

eat some good food,
have a shower, stretch.

See my girlfriend.
See my family. And--

But I'll miss this,

as much as I complained
over the last 30-odd days,

I love the simple life.

Um, I love pushing myself,
pushing the limits and...

it'll be something that
I will really, really miss.

And... I'm sorry
for saying it, Grace,

but I'll probably be
back here again at some stage.

Oh, damn it.

[sentimental music playing]

*

[Jason]
For my entire athletic career,

I was obsessed
with being the best.

Not having a wall
full of silver medals anymore.

And it took rowing across
the Atlantic Ocean twice

to finally realize
that once I did win,

it had nothing to do
with what color the medal was

and everything to do with
the people that I did it with.

It was about
the small, authentic moments

that you share
with your teammates

in the middle of the Atlantic.

It was about the highs,
but it was also about the lows.

No one will ever really know,
except for the four of us,

what it was like out there.

No one will know.

And sometimes you
don't want to let that go.

For a split second, you don't
want to get off the boat.

[crowd cheering]

[man] 35 days,
14 hours and three minutes.

[cheering]

With that they win the race
and also set a new world record

-for crossing the Atlantic.
-[crowd cheering]

-[man] Hip, hip.
-[crowd] Hooray!

-[man] Hip, hip.
-[crowd] Hooray!

-[man] Hip, hip.
-[crowd] Hooray!

[Angus]
I was so proud of the boys

and did not know that
we had it in us to do that.

I now feel a huge connection
and increased bond with Angus

and huge, huge respect
for Jason in that

and I refer-- Would refer
to them as my brothers.

[Matt]
I love those guys.

Angus and Alex and Jason.

And we've done something
that's rare in today's world

where we built ourselves up

to something greater than
each of our individual parts.

[Jason]
Now, I'm a father

and that pretty much
changes everything.

It fills me with
new purpose, grace,

and it also adds
a level of complexity.

The sacrifice
now that I'll be making

in any future adventures
has gone way up.

And yet, I know
I won't stop doing them.

[Amelia]
Me and my son have such a bond.

Um. I'm sorry.

And I think--

I think the struggles
have really helped him,

because I think
he'll be able to show Tristan

um, how much you can learn
and change from those things.

And they're necessary-- Sorry.

To grow.

Um, he's a wonderful father.

[Jason]
Going back to the question

of why do people
do these things?

Why do people cross oceans?

We've heard about this saying

it's not how many
times you get knocked down,

it's how many
times you get back up.

But that is only half of it.

You must spend time
on the ground understanding

and learning how you got there

so that when
you do get back up,

you're a smarter,
tougher, harder,

stronger target to knock down.

That is why we keep doing
things even though we lose,

because we learn.

[emotional music]